Best Friends Of 17 Years Learn They’re Actually Biological Sisters

Ashley Thomas and Latoya Wimberly were best friends for 17 years before learning that they’re biological sisters. They shared similar interests and people often told them that they look like sisters. However, it wasn’t until Wimberly held a party to celebrate her engagement that the pieces of the puzzle began to come together.

Longtime best friends Ashley Thomas and Latoya Wimberly always knew they had a lot in common. But until February, they didn't know that they're actually biological sisters. https://t.co/Pi2Ia4aAYr

According to CNN, when Thomas shared pictures from the celebration on Facebook, a friend of her deceased mother reached told her that she and her mother knew Wimberly’s father, Kenneth Wimberly, from back in the day.

“Ashley’s mom’s best friend told her she had no idea my dad was Kenny,” Latoya said. “She said she and Ashley’s mom used to hang around him back when they were young. When Ashley told me, I knew something didn’t click. So I asked her to send me a picture of her mom’s best friend and showed it to my dad and asked him if he recognized her.”

Not only did Kenneth reveal that he knew both women, but he also shared that he had shared a brief romantic relationship with Ashley’s mother. During this time, Kenneth also learned that Ashley did not know who her biological father was. When she was 15, she learned that the man whom she grew up believing to be her father was not. And when her mother died 11 years ago, she didn’t give her any clues as to who her father could be.

The trio decided to split the cost of a paternity test and when the results came back, it was confirmed that Kenneth was Ashley’s father.

“It was a Friday, and I was at work when I got the call,” Ashley said. “When Kenny told me he was my dad, chills went through my body. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t process it. I couldn’t even talk to them.”

Ironically, the women say that Kenneth had always been a father figure to Ashley.

“Ashley was the only one of my friends who didn’t miss a single family event,” Latoya said. “She was extremely close to my entire family on both sides. If my father is taking me out, Ashley’s coming with me. If someone asks who are those girls, he says ‘Those are my girls.’ If she has a car problem or any kind of issue, she always goes to my dad. But somehow our families never met.”

While Ashley found the revelation to be “beautiful,” she also describes it as “extremely emotional.”

“I have so many questions for my mom and I will never have any of those answers,” Ashley said. “Did she know he was my father?”

Latoya adds that she feels guilty that her father was in her life and was not in Ashley’s as they grew up.

“I watched Ashley go through so many things growing up and now all I can think about is that her father was here and he could have been there for her just like he was for me,” said Latoya. “So that’s very emotional.”

Kenneth is looking forward to establishing stronger relationships with Ashley and her two children.